Falling Forever Hoping (STORY VERSION)
by Soleil0623
Summary: This is season 2 of Falling Skies! What happened to Ben after those months separated from his dad? And Jade? Will Jade be back like Tom? Will she be stuck on the ship? Will she be taken away from something? Read to find out! Please R&R!
1. World's Apart

**_DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FALLING SKIES! (If I did, that would mean I live in Canada and would be filled with awesome-sauce)_**

**Ben's POV**

"They've been gone for months! We've moved from the school so what if they don't find us," I yell at Hal. He doesn't understand all the stuff _I _go through. Sure, he lost Karen, but he has Maggie now. There's _no one _for me because everyone thinks I'm a freak! It's true! I am a freak! I want to kill every single one of those skitters! For killing mom, changing everything, taking my dad and Jade, turning me into a freak, just for everything they've done!

We get out of the trucks and get into our positions. Minutes later, Pope and his "crew" are just coming back followed by mechs and skitters. We start firing and killing them... Except I see one moving...

Everyone has already gone back to the trucks and motorcycles, but I stay put. "Ben, come on. We're moving," Hal says. "Got one still moving," I say not leaving my eye from it while taking my gun out. I aim at it, but it's freaking crawling behind the old car! "Can't get a shot," I say as I put my gun down a little.

"We, leave it," Hal says before I jump out the window going for it. He's yelling my name, but I take my knife out and walk up to the skitter sending my knife into it's "mouth". I hear Hal behind me and a gun shot. I put my gun up and see a skitter. I shoot at it when a figure is standing by it close to the building and shot at that too.

The skitter drops down dead and behind it was standing-"Dad!," Hal and I shout as we run towards him falling to the ground. When we get to him, I see Jade. Oh my gosh! I shot her! "Jade? Jade! Wake up! Please," I say while picking her up. She's so light... I could not live with myself if she dies or so help me God! I sort-of help Hal carry, more like drag, dad towards the others while I'm carrying Jade.

**Jade's POV**

Tom and I have been on the look for the 2nd Mass for forever it seems. We hear Weaver? We found them?! Tom and I start towards that direction when we see a skitter. Tom tries to go for it, but is instantly knocked towards the ground from the skitter's long arm. I go after it only to be flung against the wall. Crap!

Tom puts a pole through its head and I stay behind the building as I hear gun shots. Then I feel some blood on me to see that I was shot. I look up to just find Tom with worry in his eyes just as I fall to the ground. I could've sworn I saw Ben, but I'm just not sure... It was either him or someone else just as darkness takes over me.

I Feel someone picking me up and then put onto, or into, something moments later. I feel someone holding my hand and saying to please wake up, but I can't... I feel myself being picked up again as someone runs with me towards someone, or something. I feel a cot underneath me as someone lifts my shirt to see the bullet holes I suppose.

I feel myself being lifts sideways and hear that only one of the bullets exited my body. How many shots were taken? I know it wasn't on purpose to whoever shot me. I would've shot me too if it was dark and saw someone beside a skitter near a building. I want to let them know that but I can't wake up or move. What happened to me? Am I already dead?... I think I hear my parents and Jason coming in to only be taken out by Weaver with some others. I hear Ben's name. God! I missed him so much! Why won't I wake up so I can hug him, Matt, Jason, my parents, and everyone to death?!

Before I know it, I'm having flashbacks from when I was on the ship and finding the 2nd Mass with Tom.

*Flashback*

I hear Tom yelling that he's been here for days and that he wants to know about his son. I want to know that too and why they want me... Why do they want Tom and a girl like me? I can hear Tom and Karen talking somehow. It's like I have the effects of the harness, but I never was harnessed. How's that remotely possible?

As I'm in deep thought, a skitter with a red eye drags me out of the "room" or "cage" thing I was in. 'You can hear me child? Don't you? But how is that possible? You weren't even harnessed,' a voice says in my head. 'Who's there and why are you inside my head?' 'It's me, Red Eye. You can call me that dear child and I'll watch over you and other de-harnessed children. Please don't be afraid of me. I need to help you and Tom. You two are a reason we can fight back and try to win this war with the Espheni. I'm going to try to get you and Tom off this ship. You don't want to know what I overheard what Karen and the overlord were planning on doing with you. It's too barbaric. Tom and some others will be dropped off, as you can put it, soon. Try to sneak off with them and you'll be safe. I promise.'

I just nod as he leads me somewhere to see some people just leaving the ship. 'I have a question. How come I'm _different_?' 'You'll find out soon dear child. Just take care of yourself and the resistance for this rebellion's sake. Take care,' Red Eye says as he leaves while I start to creep off the ship. I see Tom and run towards him. "Tom!" He turns around and starts to tell us to run. That's when I see Red Eye and a mech. "Tom! It's okay. We can trust the skitter," I say to him as we're running.

People are being shot by the mech, but Tom and I are still standing. 'Take care, Jade,' Red Eye "says" to me before he turns around and walks away with the mech. I tell Tom everything about Red Eye when we all of a sudden hear yelling occurring. We follow it to see a girl trying to escape from a guy holding a gun to her. Before I know it, Tom runs towards them and knocks the guy to the ground. I run over there to stay by the girl to protect her, I see that she's uneasy about me being there so I say,"It's okay. We're not going to hurt you."

Tom come up to her introducing us and saying that he needs to borrow her car. "No! It's mine," she screams as she starts to hit him. Tom turns around grabbing her hands. "Sorry. I should've asked," he says as she just starts to cry. She starts to say to just take the bag and leave her alone as Tom picks it up but gives it to her. She finally lets us borrow the car but only if we bury this woman. We do and we are on the roads on and of for about a month now. Tom and I found out that the woman we buried was her mom. So she's all alone... It broke my heart, and so I just hugged and comforted her.

It's night time after so many weeks and we hear gunshots. "Cease fire!" "Tom? Is that Weaver," I ask while getting out of the car with him. "Stay here and I'll go check." The girl gets into the front seat and throws us our bag back saying that her mom wanted her to go to the mountains so she's going there. She drives off as Tom and I go near the noise to see a skitter's back to us. We hear Ben and Hal's voice, so Tom shoots at the skitter. No damage...

Tom attacks it only to be thrown into the building behind him, so I go after the skitter to only get thrown back too. I get up just as Tom sends a pole into the skitter's head as they move out into the open. I hear fire and feel some blood on my stomach. I feel a warm liquid and what do you know... I was shot... More than once. I look up to see Tom just as I fall to the ground and go into darkness after I see a figure that looked like... Ben... My Ben...

*End Flashback*

I wake up in a cold sweat as I sit up in the process. "Jade?" I look around to see Jason. "Oh, Jason," I say as he runs up to me tackling me with a big bear hug. "I'm so, so glad you're okay, Jace," I say before kissing the top of his head. "I thought you were dead," says Jason. That word 'dead' just broke my heart because he thought _I _was. "Well, I'm not, Jace. You don't-" "I'm glad you're finally awake," Anne says walking up to me.

"Me, too. Where's Tom?" "He's still unconscious. Let's just hope he'll wake up soon." "How's Ben?" "Ben's really depressed and mad at himself because he shot you and his dad. He hasn't really been the same since you and Tom were gone. He blames himself." "It's not his fault. Anyone could've shot us. Honest mistake." "He'll be glad to hear you're awake and alive, but you need some rest." "Okay," I respond as I drag Jason onto the bed with me snuggling with him. God! I missed him so much...

**Ben's POV**

It's been days since we got the back and they're still not awake. I can never forgive myself if _anything _happens to them. So I just sit hear waiting for some descent news when Matt all of a sudden comes up. "Ben, I've been looking for you." "I wanted to be by myself for a while. You heard what happened, right?" "Yeah. I know you didn't mean to hurt Dad, or Jade... You're going out again." "Got no choice," I say as I'm preparing my gun,"Pope and Anthony sent another alien patrol our direction. If we don't ambush them on our teams, they could roll right over us."

"It's not fair! I should be going with you." "Look, You're nowhere near ready." "Because everyone keeps treating me like a little kid. I'm old enough to fight." "Old enough to know how, at least. How about this? When I get back, I'll see what I can do." "Thanks," says Matt as he gets up but quickly turns around. "Also, Anne wanted me to tell you that Jade's awake now." "Thanks, Matt. I'll see her when I get back." He nods before he leaves. I get up to get ready for our mission and load up.

"Hey, Ben!" I hear as I'm walking and see Hal running towards me. "Hey, wait up!" I stop as he gets closer to me and says,"I know what happened with Dad and Jade was an accident... But the next time I give an order, I need to know you're going to listen." I 'm tired of him telling me what to do! He's not Dad. "Whatever you say," I respond as I start to walk away but he grabs my arm stopping me. "Hey, hold up. Hey. What's up? I don't get you. I mean, as much as he got into it with Weaver, Dad always understood chain of command." "I'll follow your orders, but you're not Dad, okay?" That's the last thing I say before I walk off.

It's finally dark, and I'm riding in to truck with Hal, Maggie, Jimmy, and some others as Pope, Tector, and a couple of others are on motorcycles. We get out of the truck as they discuss the plan when all of a sudden a beamer comes. We run and hide behind some cars. They shoot at our bikes and trucks when Pope gets mad. He starts to shoot at the beamer when he runs out of bullets and Lyle stops him saying that we gotta go. We finally just head back to camp and get there after a while.

Pope and Weaver talk about what went wrong and some other stuff as I walk away to see Jade. I walk onto the bus as I accidently bump into Anne. "How are they?" "Jade finally woke up, but Tom's still unconscious. Jade's in the back if that's why you're here." "Thanks," I say as I walk towards Jade. I grab a seat and sit next her holding her hand. She wakes up and stretches a bit. "Hey." I just stare at her hand in mine because I don't want her to hate me for shooting her. It's all my fault. "Hey... Why aren't you talking to me," she says as she sits up and uses her other hand to move my face so I'm not facing her.

"Because it's all my fault... I shot you. I shot my dad. I'm a total freak that shot his own dad and his-his..." "Ben... You're not a freak. If anyone is, it's me." "No you're-" "Shh. Listen to me. I am a freak. You're nothing compared to me. I wasn't harnessed, but yet... Huh..." "But yet what?" "I have the effects of them. I communicated with a skitter on the ship I was on with your dad. He's the leader of the skitter rebellion against the Espheni. He need our help, Ben. You-" "NO! You don't see it do you?! He's trying to manipulate you, and look! He already has! We need to kill all the skitters till there are none!"

"He's not manipulating me, Ben. He cares for us. Why won't you believe me?" She's being manipulate by these ugly creatures! "Because it's not the truth! You're being manipulated! You're turning into a freak just like Rick!" Oh crap... I regret those words as they leave my mouth. Now I've really done it... I made her cry. She takes her hands away from me as she scoots away from me. "Just leave, Ben. I don't know who you are anymore. You're not my Ben. You're not him."

"Listen. I'm sorry, Jade. I'm sorry. I-" "Anne! Anne I need help! Get Ben away from me or whoever he is! Anne!" "Jade, please." "Get away from me! You're not Ben! You're him anymore! Get away from me!" I start to say something, but Weaver and Hal come in dragging me away. "What the heck was that about, Ben," Hal asks me. "She's being manipulated by the skitters. She was talking about a skitter she met on the ship and she said she communicated with him. She said he was the leader of the rebellion and-" "Wait! She what? She communicated with this skitter," Weaver asks. "Yes... She said that she has the effects of the harness, but never was harnessed." "Okay, Ben. Go back to your tent and we'll talk to hr or something," Weaver says.

I just nod and go to my tent, but I can't sleep. I haven't slept in a while because of those stupid nightmares. Now I can't sleep because of what I said and did to Jade. I can only wait for a while till I can talk to her again. She must hate me...

It's finally morning after that long night and told Matt I would teach him how to shoot. We go behind camp and teach him. "Find your stance," I say as he's holding the gun aiming and taking a stance. "Lean forward a bit." "Hey, Ben," I hear Hal say as him and Maggie walk up to Mat and me. "What's Matt doing with a gun?" "Ben's teaching me how to shoot." "Figured it was time," I put in,"He needs to learn how to defend himself."

"So you just gave him a rifle without asking me," Hal says while still giving me the 'permission first' thing. We've talked about this before, he's not dad. "I might have to follow your orders on missions, but not here." He just stares at me for a bit before he takes the gun away from Matt to see that it's loaded. "Go back to camp, Matt." Matt just stands there protesting but Hal tells him,"Go back to camp," while pointing towards it. Matt walks away as Hall says,"Maybe he's ready, maybe he's not, but we both know Dad didn't want that for him." He starts to walk away but then I shoot back,"Three months ago. How do you know what he'd say now?" "I don't know what'd he say now, and neither do you, okay? So how about we wait and let Dad make that decision?" "Only way we win this war is by killing every skitter we see. If Matt's old enough to load a gun, he's old enough to shoot it."

"After what happened to Dad, you think you're the best one to be giving lessons?" "I just don't him to be taken away the way they took me." He just nods and starts to walk away, but I say,"Or your girlfriend, Karen." He comes at me, but I grab his wrist hard which brings him to his knees. "I'm not the math geek you used to push around. Deal with it." I walk away while pushing Hal to the ground. I'm tired of him treating me this way.

As I pass the hospital bus, I hear laughing. Jade's and... Jimmy's? Why is he in there?! I walk onto the bus and the laughing stops. "What do you want," Jade asks. "I was just wondering why Jimmy was here." "He was being a friend. At least he doesn't call me a freak." "Uh... Should I go," Jimmy asks. "Yes," I say while Jade says 'no'. "Listen... Please, Jade... I just wanted to say that I didn't mean to call you a freak or say that you were being manipulated. I'm sorry... For everything..." She just stares at me and then lets out a big sigh. "Okay... I forgive you. I just-I hate staying mad at people and it's good to know that you apologized." Whew! Thank you, Lord! "Um. I'll just leave for you guys to have your 'reunion'," Jimmy says before he leaves.

Jade scoots over on the cot and pats the spot signaling for me to come and sit next to her. I do so and say,"I really am sorry... I hate what I said to you and that you're in here because of me." "It's okay, Ben. Accidents happen," she replies while engulfing me in a hug. We sit and talk for a bit while watching my dad for any signals of consciousness. "Ben." "Hm?" "Your dad... He's bleeding. Go get Anne!" I run out of the bus towards Weaver's office, because I heard she was there, yelling her name.

We run back to the bus as Lourdes and Jade are next to him as he's mumbling something. "I don't know what happened. He just started bleeding again." "I must've missed a fragment. He feels feverish too," Anne says as she's checking him. "We still have a few bottles of IV antibiotic." "Okay." "Okay."

"I'm sorry, Ben," Lourdes says as she pulls the sheet separating Anne, Lourdes, and my dad from me and Jade. "He's going to be okay. He'll make it," Jade says while putting a hand on my shoulder. "Yah," I say as I walk away. "Why do you do that? You never used to do that." "Do what?" "Shut people out. Ignore people trying to help you or trying to comfort you." "I'm sorry. It's just-I've had to deal with a lot since you two were gone. This is who I am now." We walk outside to hear that we have to move but Weaver needs five people to stay with Anne and Lourdes. Maggie, Hal, Dai, Jade, and I volunteer.

Everyone is gone by now waiting for us. Hal, Lourdes, and Anne are in the bus as the rest of us are outside when all of a sudden a mech comes. I stay by Jade and see her confused. Why is she confused? The mech passes and we get onto the bus. "What's wrong, Jade?" "Nothing." Nothing my butt! But I'm not going to push it. I guess she'll eventually tell me, just not now I suppose. We sit in the front of the bus and she falls asleep. She looks so peaceful...

Matt fell asleep on Hal's shoulder, who's also asleep. I just sit, awake with Jade because she had a nightmare and couldn't go back to sleep. I don't blame her, I never sleep because of the continuous nightmares. "Ben." "Yes?" "Your dad's awake," she says as she's looking over at my dad. We get up and walk towards my dad. Matt and Hal finally come over and we have a "Mason reunion". Dad gets up and is welcomed back by everyone. We're all just glad that he's alive and back. "I told you he'd be okay," Jade says and I look down at her. She's smiling, so I return the favor and smile back. I'm glad that this day just got even better...

_**A/N: I just want to let you know that I watch the episode with the subtitles for this whenever I post a new part/chapter/whatever you wanna call it. Just want to say that so you know I'm copywriting it from the talented screenplay writers that write the episode. Just to let you know that. Bye! :P**_


	2. Shall We Gather At The River

_**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FALLING SKIES!(If I did... You're welcome!)**_

**Jade's POV**

"Ben! Ben," I call out to him. Where is he? I walk out of the woods and into the clearing to see Karen holding Ben by the arms. No... "You should except your punishments, Jade, or someone else will," Karen yells at me. "Please? Just let him go." Karen does an evil smirk and says,"Well, I can't." A skitter brings my parents and Jason. Not them too. "Who do you want to save, Jade? Your precious Ben, or your family?" "Why can't you let them both go?" "Because, you didn't take your punishment, so someone else does." I look at Ben and in his eyes he says that I should choose my family because he doesn't want to be the reason why I have to say goodbye to my family and live with that. I look at my parents and see that they aren't afraid, but I know they are. "Have you made your decision yet, Jade?" I don't answer because I'm still thinking. Wrong move because as I look up, a mech comes up behind Karen and shoots Ben, my parents, and Jason. "No!"

"No," I scream as I shoot up in my cot. Jason comes up to me. "Jade? Are you okay?" I just hold onto him and say that I'm glad it was just all a dream. "I have to go see Anne. Okay? You just go back to sleep," I say as I let go of him. He nods and climbs back into his cot. Once I know he's asleep, I change my shirt and pants super fast and head to the med bus. "Anne?" "Over here, Jade," she says at the other end of the bus. I walk over to her, and she faces me.

"What's wrong," she says with worry in her eyes. I don't usually come here for her, so I can see why she's concerned. "I've been having really bad nightmares every night... And they're the same one. Every. Single. Night." "What are they about?" "Karen has Ben and my family, and tells me to choose which one I want to save. She has them because she says since I didn't take my punishment, someone else does. I think for too long and a mech always ends up shooting them all in the end. Jason says that I always wake up screaming 'no'. What's happening, Anne? I mean, I have the effects of the harness. I can run without breaking a sweat for a long time, I can hear everything, and I can see things in greater detail. And..."

I can't tell her about the communication with the skitter on the ship. What will she think? Heck! What would she do? "And what, Jade?" "If I asked you to keep a secret, would you? Like not tell anyone, not even Jason or my parents?" "I promise, Jade." "And will you try not to think of me as a different person? I mean, I know _I am_ different, but I don't want you or anyone else to judge me." "I promise that too, Jade. Now, what is it?"

Here goes nothing... "When I was on the ship with Tom, I communicated with this skitter. He had one red eye because have his face is burnt or something, and he communicated with me. He helped Tom and I to escape from the ship, well Tom was already going to be released with others they kept on the ship, but he helped me to. He said that he heard what Karen and the overlord were going to do to me and said it was barbaric." I was going to tell her about the rebellion, but I don't know if Red Eye wants me to. "What's going on with me?" She's about to answer when Jimmy and Ben come onto the bus.

"Hey. You ready," Ben asks. "Yah," I say as I grab my gun and say 'goodbye' to Anne. I'm by the door with them and they say,"Ladies first." "Awe! What little gentlemen," I say in a voice like I'm talking to little kids while grabbing their cheeks. Haha! Hilarious! Their facial expressions were priceless. We get into a truck with Dai, Jamil, Hal, and Maggie as we scout for a bridge we can cross. We found one, and Jimmy, Ben, and I are just walking towards the other end of the bridge.

"Bridge looks good! I mean, considering. We may have a real shot at crossing here, guys," Jamil informs us. "That's good," Hal yells back. I can hear Maggie and Hal's conversation all the way on the other side, if I can, I know Ben can, too. "Practicing operational silence? Because you've hardly said a word all day. You know, it's not your fault," Jimmy says, trying to make a conversation with Ben. "That's what everyone keeps telling me," Ben says. "Hey, Ben! Jimmy! Jade! Let's go," Hal shouts. "Who would've expected your dad and Jade to have been there after three months? It was dark, skitters on our heels, something moved. Anyone would've shot."

"Well, it wasn't anyone. It was me." Why does he put himself down like that? Why won't he except that it was a mistake? Is he not happy that his dad and I are back? That's when we see a beamer. We start to run back toward Hal and Maggie. "Incoming," Hal shouts as Dai starts to shoot at the beamer. "Jamil,"Hal shouts as Jamil runs back towards them. "Ben! Dai, get it," Hal shouts. "Dang it," Maggie shouts while taking cover.

Dai takes down the beamer, but I saw that part of it crashed into the bridge. Great. How are we ever going to be able to cross now? Then Dai takes down the other one. "Nice shot, Dai," Ben compliments. "Twenty mike-mike armor-piercing discarding sabot. Accept no substitutes," Dai says. We head to see what the damage is. And I was right, the falling beamer hit the bridge. "Well, I guess we can't cross here," Maggie points out. We get back into the truck and head back to camp to report it to Weaver.

Maggie and Hal are in front of us on their motorcycles as we near camp. The whole ride there was silent, so I just watched the scenery as we went by. Even though the aliens have wrecked our planet, it's still beautiful. The nature. The trees. It's all beautiful minus the fact that a skitter could be right there by a tree, or a mech. We're back at camp, and Hal goes off to tell Weaver about what happened I suppose. It's been a while and Weaver and some others come back with us to the bridge. "You can't even walk across it," Pope says while examining the bridge. He spits over the edge into the water. How disgusting!

"Heh. Dollars o donuts, the beamers will bomb the hell out of your work crews 10 minutes after they started trying to rebuild." "Didn't say I had everything worked out. This is our best chance," Jamil inputs. "Maybe better off probing for a week point and then fighting out way out," Weaver says. "Yeah, the mech and skitter columns I saw weren't carrying any weak points with them," says Pope. Hal then says,"So far we've managed to stay hidden. They're looking hard and closing in. Gonna be on us in two days. Tops." Anthony just asks why cant they blow the whole city and be done with us. That's a very good question, Anthony. Very good question.

"We might not be worth it. Haven't seen them drop neutron bombs in months, not since Boston," Hal explains to Anthony. "They won't need a nuke if they trap us on this side. What about that boat that you liberated from a store, Jamil," Weaver asks. "It was rubber, seats five, no motor. Best guess, it'd take us 40 minutes, round trip, across the river." Tom says that it'd take too long to get everyone across the river, which is true. And we'd also have to leave the vehicles, heavy weapons, wounded, and supplies. "Yeah. Not acceptable," Weaver inputs.

Tom says that it'd be easier to just rebuild the bridge. "We don't have to rebuild it, captain. We could just patch it up," Jamil informs Weaver. Weaver and Jamil talk about it for a bit, then Weaver informs us about it. "Once we get across, we have no idea what's over there. Could run smack into an ambush," Hal says. He's right, we have no idea what's over there. "Somebody's got to go for a look-see. Anybody up for a swim," Weaver asks. "I'll do it. Maggie and I will take back the boat. We'll go across. We'll check it out," Hal says. "It'll take you too long to paddle across. I can swim it faster and not be seen," Ben explains. "Really," Tom asks. "You've been away, Dad. This is what I do," Ben says while looking at his dad.

"He's right, Tom. He's the best man for the job. yeah. Jade can come with you if she wants, or stay with Jimmy on watch," Weaver says. I just nod next to Ben.

**Ben's POV**

It's night and Jimmy, Jade, and I are at the river. Jimmy's just staying here, as Jade and I go across the river. "One lone, two short means it's us," I inform Jimmy. "All clear is two short, one long. And if yo two have skitters following you," Jimmy asks. "You get the first shot." "Awesome. Wait, uh, you might need this." I turn around and see Jimmy taking his compass off from around his neck.

"Weaver's compass." "Yeah, just don't make me come after it. That water's freezing." "Heh. It's invigorating," I say as I head towards Jade near the river. I come next to her, and she nods as we start to walk into the river. "Invigorating!" Jade and I start to swim. I know she said she can do the things I can with the harness and all, but I don't know. I don't want her to come with me. I love her and all, but I don't know. I guess I don't want her to get sick from the freezing water or injured if we actually end up getting ambushed by some skitters and mechs.

We finally reach shore, and we walk out of the river towards to woods. I get my flashlight out and turn it on as we head in the direction we saw the beamer head. We come across the beamer that was knocked down. That's when I see Jade hunched over in pain. "Jade? Jade, you okay?" That's when I hear it too. She slides this door or something over revealing a alien bug thing. Jade stomps on it with her foot till it's not glowing and we can't hear the noise anymore. We begin the walk again when we hear something run past us. Turns out it was just a deer.

We hear the noise again, but for a shorter time, and see one of those structures they have. Mechs are walking in front of it carrying something. I take a couple pictures of it, then Jade and I head back towards to river. Jade hasn't said much in a while. I wonder why. We get back across the river as I hand the compass back to Jimmy. Then we head towards camp and I go to talk with dad. I heard he was in restraints and then they told me what happened.

He's sleeping, so I just give him a slight shake on the shoulder. "Dad," I say as he jerks awake. "Nightmares?" "Ahem. Yeah." "Yeah, I had a lot of those after Anne took my harness off." "How'd you shake them?" "I stopped sleeping." I scoot a seat near him and sit down. "Just came back from across the river. Heard what happened." "Oh, it's for the best. Until we know more, until I can figure out what it is they did to-" He stops speaking as I touch where they pulled that bug-like thing out of his eye. It's still red. I take my hand away and ask,"You wanna know my secret? To make sure they can't control me?"

"Mm-hm," he says as he nods a bit. "Hate. I hate what they did to me with all my heart and soul. I hate that they turned me into a freak." "You're not a freak." To show him he's wrong, I have no other choice then to show him my back. It's worse, I know it is. I get up and close all the curtain so no one else can see. I take my belt off and turn my back towards him as I take my shirt of for him to see my back. "You got to hold onto your hate, Dad. If you can do that..." I put my shirt back on and face him. "If you can do that, it doesn't matter what they've done to you. They won't be able to change you inside." "You're right. Hate is a very powerful emotion. And I hate them too... Ah. But if all you've got left is hate, then they've already changed you. It wasn't our hate that kept me and Jade going the last couple of months. It was our love for you and for Hal and for Matt and for Jason."

"Gotta go," I say as I pick up my belt and exit the med bus. I walk towards Captain Weaver's tent, or the tent we meet up in to talk about missions and stuff, to talk about the pictures I gathered with Jade. Jade's already in there and so I decide to stand by her. She looks up at me and smiles, so I return the favor and smile back. "Wow. How did you guys find this wreck," Jamil asks. "Ben and I saw the beamer get hit and fly off, figured it was trying to regroup with it's forces, so we followed the course it took. When we found the ship, we just kept going the way it was headed and found that," Jade explains.

"Good thinking," Weaver says. "They're not using any kind of engine I've ever seen. It's some sort of organic biotechnology. Captain, we should try and grab as much of this wreck as we can. Could learn a lot," says Jamil. "It's a bad time for a science project," Anthony says. "It's a bad time for everything. We need to know our enemies. Once we get over there, take a truck, grab what you want. And we'll hightail into the forest, get away from that base," Weaver explains.

"We're not going if we don't figure out how to shut down the air power. Now, we see anything in these pictures that can help us do that," Hal asks. "No pilot," Weaver says. "No. No, uh, seats, no controls, nothing for any kind of pilot. Jade and Ben, did you see anything that looked like a radio? Did you hear anything," Jamil asks us. "No," I say as they go back to examining the pictures. Weaver tells us a plan, then we leave and prepare for tonight.

**Jade's POV**

I hate that I haven't talked with Ben in a while. I don't know why, I've just been silent lately. I walk/run behind the cars because I haven't told anyone, but I'm going to hide behind a bush near the side we're leaving and to help them take down the mechs and skitters. Ben will be with Dai, Hal, and Maggie across the river to blow up that structure. I hope they're okay. I hide behind the bush so no one can tell me other wise. I just sit here, waiting till I hear Pope and the Berserkers come back with skitters and mechs following them.

Now is my chance. I shoot at the skitters and mechs, but they don't notice me because the other fighters shooting at them keep them focused on them. I move near them, and I see the mech shoot some of our best fighters. They'll be greatly missed. Then I see Tom on the back of the truck when all of a sudden a skitter comes up ready to attack when it's shot. I look over a bit to find Matt holding a gun pointing to where it was shot. Tom and I are the only ones left over here aren't we? I hear Matt telling Weaver that Tom's still over here. No one has noticed I'm missing yet, have they?

**Ben's POV**

I just got back to were everyone else is and Dad isn't over here. Where is he? Where is Jade?... No no no! Don't tell me that she is over there? God Jade! Why'd you do that?! "Jade's over there, too," I say to Weaver. "What?" "Jade, she's not over here. She's over there with Dad." We look back to see more mechs and skitters coming. "Tom! Come on! We're going to blow the bridge," Weaver yells at him. Where's Jade?

**Jade's POV**

I here Weaver telling Tom to hurry up and that they're going to blow the bridge. The skitters and mechs are nearing him. I have to do something. I come from behind the bushes, shooting at the skitters and mechs. "Come here uglys!" That got there attention. I start to run the other direction to buy Tom some time, which it is, but some of them are still following him. When I'm a good distance ahead of them, I hide behind some bushes as they continue to run past me. I wait a bit and hear the bridge being blown.

I run back towards what's left of the bridge. I'm about to jump off when I get thrown back. I look up to see a skitter on top of me. Crap! "Jade! Jade," I hear Ben and my family calling out to me. I try shooting, but it knocks the gun out of my hands. So I get my knife out and stab it into the skitters mouth into it's brain. It's almost dead so I push it off of me and jump into the river. When I get about water again, I see Tom swimming towards me. That's the last I see before it all goes black. But why?

**Ben's POV**

I can't believe Dad's gone. What about Jade? She should be here. I just lean on a truck when I hear Hal and Pope get into a fight about what Pope did. Dai's holding Hal back while Anthony is doing the same to Pope. That's until I hear something from the river and instinctively pull my gun out and ask 'who's there'. Then I hear Dad say,"Don't shoot, Ben. Once is enough, I think. We need to help Jade." He walks up near us holding Jade. He lays her on the ground and I see that the skitter got her in the stomach.

I go down and pick her up. God! I missed holding her in my arms. She may be soaking wet, but she feels so warm with me. Everyone has a reunion with Dad, then Anne comes with me onto the med bus and work on Jade. "Is she going to be okay," I ask Anne. "She should be." Jade wakes up taking in a huge breathe. Anne starts to hurry and get the things she needs when Jade grabs my hand. "He's near. Red Eye. He's near, Ben. He's-," Jade says and then goes back into unconsciousness.

Anne comes back with Lourdes and tell me to wait in the front of the bus as they work on Jade. It's been about 20 minutes and they say that she's good now. I walk over and take a seat and sit down next to her, holding her hand. I hope she's okay... And if that skitter is near, is it good or bad?


End file.
